Force Multiplier

About Force Multiplier

Technology moves fast, but are we asking the right questions? Welcome to Force Multiplier. Hosted by Danny Attias, VP, UK & Europe at Cloudforce (and former #1 CIO) we explore the conviction that while AI is the tool, people remain the true multiplier. We sit down with visionaries to discuss building a future of meaningful work, not just efficiency. From becoming "fearless learners" to mastering the emotional resilience needed for disruption, we uncover how to amplify human potential, not replace it. AI is the tool. You are the multiplier. Join us.

Publisher

Danny Attias

Category

technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

20 Dec 2025

Latest episode

25 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

3 of 10 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   25 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Husein Sharaf: Turning the Tables

   Host Danny Sharaf shares his journey of personal responsibility, empowering teams, and leveraging privilege, offering insights on parenting, career reinvention, and the ethical use of AI in this interview.

2. 

   26 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Cerys Hutton: The Dual Edge of AI in Academia

   Host Danny interviews Cerys Hutton, AI Centre of Excellence Lead, about AI's dual impact on academia, exploring risks and opportunities for the future.

3. 

   28 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Professor Baba Sheba: Duologue, Pedagogy, & Computational Thinking

   Host Danny interviews Professor Baba Sheba of City St. George’s, University of London, exploring AI as a prompter and the community-building potential of Baba’s Diaspora Nexus.

4. 

   23 Jun 2026

   Dr Miri Firth: Redefining Learning with AI and Flexible Assessments

   Live from Manchester, Danny interviews Dr. Miri Firth from the University of Manchester about AI as a core employability skill and the importance of keeping humans central. Firth explains her work on “flexible assessment,” describing multiple kinds of assessment flexibility (mode, deadlines, word count) that increase student autonomy and reduce poor AI use by avoiding single-answer tasks. They discuss using AI openly for formative drafting and feedback, supporting international students with translation, and helping learners rehearse presentations. Both argue human “transferable skills” remain essential, confidence, curiosity, adaptability, empathy, critical thinking, ethics, and lifelong learning, especially as tools change quickly. They critique AI-generated communication on social platforms, emphasise human connection and creativity, and note tensions around creative IP. The episode closes with reflections on agile leadership and combining humans and AI to accelerate product evolution. 01:39 Change Through Employability 02:27 Flexible Assessment Explained 04:36 AI In Assessment Policy 06:18 Humans Still Matter 07:28 Transferable Skills For Work 10:25 Ethics Kindness And Honesty 12:01 AI For Student Communication 13:02 AI Written Content Fatigue 15:28 Inclusive Communication With AI 16:51 Curiosity Over Laziness 17:34 National AI Education Research 18:14 Human Awareness With AI 18:45 Creativity And Gen AI 19:36 Protecting The Human Touch 21:24 Why Live Art Still Matters 23:01 Libraries And Shared Spaces 24:23 Future Graduate Skills 27:56 Speed Of Change Reality Check 30:07 Mindsets And Diverse Teams 33:14 AI In The Workforce

5. 

   20 May 2026

   Dr Michael J Jabbour: Wonder, Curiosity, and AI

   Recorded in New York, Danny is joined by Dr. Michael J. Jabbour, AI Innovation Officer at Microsoft to delve into how AI is affecting parenting, the difference between education and training, and the importance of agency, presence, and comfort with ambiguity. We also get to hear Michael read from his recent children’s book series ‘The Giving Mind’, inspired by conversations with his daughter. If you like Force Multiplier, make sure to check out Danny’s debut podcast ⁠Sondership⁠, which shares Inspiring Stories from People with Purpose at Sondership.com Purchase ‘The Giving Mind’ here: ⁠https://www.amazon.co.uk/Giving-Mind/dp/1972829009⁠ Follow Michael on Substack: ⁠https://substack.com/@michaeljjabbour/posts⁠ Michael’s Website: ⁠https://www.michaeljabbour.com/ Chapters 01:08 From Medicine to Government Tech 04:47 Culture Shapes AI Adoption 07:16 Education Versus Training 15:57 Answers Are Free Now 19:00 Writing The Giving Mind 22:22 Michael Reads The Giving Mind 25:21 A Different Type of Human 28:09 Parenting and Hidden Influences 30:11 Are We Living in a Simulation? 33:53 Offline Time and Voice AI 37:57 Learning to Handle Ambiguity 45:36 Compiled Intent and Outcomes 46:57 Mourning Dead Skills 49:57 AI Sommelier and Harnesses 54:11 Platform Shifts and First Encounters 57:42 nebulaONE

6. 

   24 Apr 2026

   Jenny Rae: The Data Free-for-All

   In this episode of Force Multiplier, Danny is joined by Jenny Rae, CIO of Imperial College London. Jenny shares her career path from a business degree at Oxford Brookes, to roles at Microsoft and BT, leading to her joining Imperial as Director of Digital Products. The conversation explores where the topic of sustainability has gone when talking about AI, and touches on student trust, concerns about profiling, and a lack of a “golden” GenAI use case. If you like Force Multiplier, make sure to check out Danny’s debut podcast Sondership, which shares Inspiring Stories from People with Purpose at Sondership.com Links: Watch AI Confidential with Hannah Fry: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002q76b/ai-confidential-with-hannah-fry (https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002q76b/ai-confidential-with-hannah-fry) Read ‘Hello World’ by Hannah Fry: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hello-World-How-Human-Machine/dp/1784163066/ (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hello-World-How-Human-Machine/dp/1784163066/) Title Chapters 00:14 What’s the change you’re trying to make 01:19 Becoming Imperial CIO 03:14 From Microsoft to BT 05:40 Meet Daisy AI 07:25 GenAI Vision at Imperial 10:51 Jobs Fears and AI Teachers 11:54 Governance and Ethics 14:38 Student Data Boundaries 17:28 Student Success Chatbot 18:47 Collaboration Beyond IT 19:20 Frictionless Tool Enablement 19:45 Change Management Over Use Cases 20:33 Everyday Productivity Wins 21:53 Humans Still Matter 22:59 User Centric vs AI First 24:27 Blade Runner Future Vision 26:35 Sustainability and AI Costs 29:55 Risks and Critical Thinking 30:54 Managing Humans and Agents 33:31 Robots and Autonomy Fears 35:45 Human Flaws and Trust 36:41 Augmenting Healthcare Decisions

7. 

   22 Mar 2026

   Lailany Sierra: Human-Centric AI Transformation - Value, Culture, and Reskilling

   In this episode of Force Multiplier, Danny is joined by Lailany Sierra, Strategic Operations & Transformation Leader, with experience across IMAX, Disney, and Chanel. Lailany discusses the change she wants to make through individual transformation: building resilience, adapting in volatile times, upskilling, and developing agency as technology reshapes work. She emphasises showing up by adding value, supporting collaboration, and considering human implications during digital transformation. The conversation warns that organisations often treat technology as an ROI investment while treating people as a cost, risking displacement, underinvestment in upskilling, and using AI to replicate existing dysfunction; successful transformation requires data, security, ethics, and alignment to customer journeys and Conway’s law. Lailany describes learning via structured courses (including an Oxford AI course) and creative studies, prefers Claude as a thought partner and Perplexity for sourced research, and advocates prompting for alternative viewpoints to avoid confirmation bias. She raises concerns about AI representation, pace, accountability, and societal/ecological impacts, while highlighting benefits like democratised access, productivity gains, and advances in life sciences and climate tech. If you like Force Multiplier, make sure to check out Danny’s debut podcast Sondership that shares Inspiring Stories from People with Purpose at Sondership.com 00:49 What’s the change you’re trying to make 02:16 Leadership and Adding Value 04:43 Human Centric AI Transformation 05:35 Why Tech Deployments Fail 09:28 ROI Versus People Investment 11:49 Conway’s Law and Org Design 15:21 Collective Intelligence With GenAI 16:00 Luxury Needs Humans 17:10 Reskilling and Learning Styles 19:43 Art Deco Inspiration 20:26 Choosing AI Tools 22:36 Low Cost Learning Paths 24:41 Avoiding Confirmation Bias 27:43 AI Risks and Representation 33:04 Democratisation and Breakthroughs 35:28 Climate and Sustainability Outlook

8. 

   27 Feb 2026

   Dame Clare Barclay DBE: Educating Tomorrow

   In this episode of Force Multiplier, Danny is joined by Dame Clare Barclay, President of Enterprise & Industry, EMEA at Microsoft and former CEO, Microsoft UK. Clare and Danny discuss how they see AI being used in education, and how this extends to future generations. She shares what she’s seeing across AI startups and enterprises, why skills and lifelong learning are the critical unlock, and what governments can do to drive productivity and inclusive growth. If you liked Force Multiplier, make sure to check out Danny’s debut podcast that shares inspiring stories from people with purpose - Sondership (https://www.sondership.com/) Referenced in this episode: Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, Ethan Mollick https://www.amazon.co.uk/Co-Intelligence-Living-Working-Ethan-Mollick-ebook/dp/B0CHHY2PS4 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Co-Intelligence-Living-Working-Ethan-Mollick-ebook/dp/B0CHHY2PS4) Supremacy (AI, ChatGPT, and the race that will change the world), Parmy Olson https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supremacy-ChatGPT-Race-Change-World/dp/1035038226 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supremacy-ChatGPT-Race-Change-World/dp/1035038226) 00:45 AI as a Lifter for All 01:31 Who Shapes the Outcome 03:18 Personalized Tutors in Education 03:26 Teachers Plus AI Support 05:26 Kids Using AI Wisely 07:01 Clare's Role at Microsoft 08:14 Government and AI Strategy 09:40 Skills and Lifelong Learning 11:47 AI Reshaping Organizations 13:33 Agents and Frontier Firms 16:57 Adoption Speed and Disruption 02:14 Enterprises Meet Startups 18:45 AI As Shock Trigger 19:11 Banking AI Benchmark Race 20:40 Startup Acceleration Era 21:41 Agent Costs And Value 24:11 Experimentation Culture Shift 25:14 Personal Agents In Practice 26:46 Satya And Microsoft Agents 28:44 Microsoft Culture To AI 33:35 Curiosity New Year Advice 34:14 Mum Learns AI Story

9. 

   29 Jan 2026

   Dr. Laura Gilbert CBE: Leveraging AI and Human Potential

   Danny is joined by Dr. Laura Gilbert, CBE, in a conversation that delves into the global inequalities that can be both created, and addressed by AI. Laura highlights the crucial role of human motivation in deploying AI technologies, drawing on her wealth of experience working in Downing Street, and now as part of the Tony Blair Institute. The conversation also touches on the importance of open-source solutions and the unintended consequences of overconfidence. Read the books Danny mentions: Black Box Thinking - https://amzn.eu/d/a7s6u2C (https://amzn.eu/d/a7s6u2C) Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution - https://amzn.eu/d/fmeOY9Q (https://amzn.eu/d/fmeOY9Q) If you liked Force Multiplier, make sure to check out Danny’s debut podcast that shares inspiring stories from people with purpose - Sondership (https://www.sondership.com/) 01:15 Vision for a Less Unequal World 02:55 Motivations Behind AI Development 08:42 Cultural Impacts of AI 12:10 Predicting the Future 17:45 Optimizing for Better Decision Making 22:20 Government and AI: Real-World Applications 26:45 AI-Powered Vulnerability Detection 27:30 Human-Centric Tech Development 27:59 Become an Expert in your Own Right 29:29 Know What You Don’t Know 33:35 Open Source and Collaboration 37:43 Embodied AI and Robotics 43:00 Decide What You Care About

10. 

    20 Dec 2025

    Claudia Harris OBE: Empowering Careers and Navigating the AI Revolution

    "What is the world you want to build?" In the premiere episode of Force Multiplier, Danny Attias sits down with Claudia Harris OBE (CEO of Makers) to discuss why the future of work isn't about code, it's about becoming a "fearless learner". Claudia shares her journey from McKinsey and Tony Blair’s Delivery Unit to leading Europe’s first coding bootcamp, where she proves that resilience and emotional intelligence are the true skills of the future. Together, they strip away the sci-fi fear of AI, reframing it as a "word calculator", a tool that requires human mastery, not just blind adoption. They dive deep into: * The 3 Stages of AI Adoption: Moving from Mastery (prompting) to Automation (efficiency) to Re-imagining (complexity).* The "Playground" Trap: Why AI "friends" who never disagree with us might be dangerous for human resilience.* Agency over Anxiety: Why we must stop reacting to tech trends and start deciding what meaningful work looks like.* The Optimist’s Case: Why this is the most exciting time to be alive, if we are willing to. 00:18 The Change Makers: Transforming Careers 01:28 Personal Passion and Professional Journey 02:22 The Genesis of Makers: Coding Bootcamp 03:17 The Importance of Fearless Learning 04:05 AI and the Future of Work 04:35 Claudia's Career Path: From McKinsey to OBE 06:39 The Role of AI in Career Education 07:24 The Impact of AI on Society and Work 08:09 Building Skills for the Future 17:46 Mastering AI: A Three-Tier Approach 27:03 Balancing Personal and Professional Life 27:52 The Privilege of Working in AI 29:37 Conclusion: Embracing Change and Optimism

Inside a recent episode

Husein Sharaf: Turning the Tables

Published 25 Sept 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] If you're taking a role where you know how to do everything, you should just be a contractor. oh yeah because then you know the the person buying your services knows exactly what they're getting they're getting x for x dollars for x hours and you show up and you do the deliverable and then you move on yeah right if you are taking a role as an employee you should be taking a role where you're learning and growing and adapting and you know bringing up others to eventually take take your seat i'll tell you where that came from so uh my first job with the john lewis partnership which is a Partner owned a department store being around for 100 years. […]

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